And neither do souls....


Arteries do not do well having worms living inside them.
When over 50 worms are present, the ventricle is full and the atrium, the chamber receiving blood from the rest of the body, begins to contain worms. When over 100 worms are present, the entire right side of the heart is filled with worms and there is very little room for any blood to be pumped. This drastic phenomenon is called "Caval Syndrome" and most dogs do not survive it. As they grow they restrict blood flow in the heart and can cause permanent heart damage.
The front office of the veterinary clinic where our Franny works has an assortment of educational pictures to inform us of the dangers of parasites. (As if I had forgotten the tape worms in jar from my high school bio days...) The image that grosses me out the most is the heart infested with heartworms. (Sorry I couldn’t figure out a way to link to the image so that viewing it is optional. Maybe I’ll remove it in a few days.)

The last time I went to confession I was searching for an apt description for the multitude of small sins that had built up and were hindering my spiritual health. So I blurted out that my soul was like the heart pictured above. (Lucky for my confessor, I didn’t have a HeartGard brochure to pull out of my pocket. Luckily for me, my confessor is very understanding of my use of metaphor.) I may look ok from the outside, but my soul was clogged with ‘worms.’ Unlike a poor puppy, all I needed to do to remove the worms was name them and ask forgiveness. Confession: HeartGard for the human soul!